His lips twitched. “Right. Noah’s pet project.”
“So you think it’s fucking ridiculous too?” I sat forward and met his gaze. “I mean, what is the point?”
He sighed. “I know. The fucking audacity of his ego.”
“I mean, humiliating the Glaciers all for what? I don’t?—”
“Hold the fuck up,” Tucker said, his tone ice-cold. My jaw snapped shut. “What do you mean, humiliating the Glaciers?”
I spread my hands. “I mean, asking us to put on blindfolds and wobble around the ice to prove what you do is harder than what we do? You don’t think that’s just a lesson in humiliation?”
“You think we wobble around on the ice?”
“I…well.” My words died in the back of my throat. “No, that’s not what I meant. I just…um…” I was drowning.
He stared at me, folding his hands under his chin. I felt like I was being scolded at school.
Swallowing thickly, I shrugged. “I haven’t watched a lot of your games, but no. I don’t thinkyourplayers do. I thinkwewill. And I don’t understand the point. It’s not like any of us will ever be blind?—”
He snorted loudly. “Yeah, that’s what I thought when I got drafted to the NHL. Then a car accident took both my legs and one eye.”
I felt like I’d been struck in the chest. I was a complete moron for walking into that office entirely unprepared. And he was letting me squirm in my discomfort.
After a short forever, he seemed to take pity on me and leaned back. “I also didn’t jump into a pair of prosthetics, shove those feet into skates, and take to the ice either. I did wobble around for years. But I don’t think this is about humiliation. I think this is about feeling sorry for us, and that’s what pisses me the fuck off.”
I frowned. “Feeling sorry for you?”
“Noah thinks he’s doing us a fucking favor by using the Glaciers to get attention. He’s been to the meetings. He knows the organization is deliberately shorting us when it comes to players’ salaries and equipment and ad spots. They think we can ride the backs of the NHL and call it a day, like we’re not ourown goddamn league. Like my boys don’t work themselves into just as much exhaustion as you all do for their fucking cup.”
I wasn’t sure what to say. I wasn’t sure my opinion was welcome.
He passed a hand down his face, then took off his glasses and set them down on his desk before leaning back again. “Did you come here to plead your case about canceling the media shit?”
I shrugged. “I…suppose so.”
He sighed again. “Well, you’re out of luck, my friend. It’s over my head. I’m just the coach. I’m basically the organization’s bitch, and I go where I’m told and do what I’m told. You wanna go bark up a tree—hell, you want to go piss on it—you need to find the commissioner. Or the GMs if you don’t feel like climbing that high. My hands are tied.”
I stood up. I didn’t really think I was going to get anywhere anyway, but it was worth a shot. “How…I mean…what will it be like? This whole media thing?”
Tucker grimaced. “We’ll slap a blindfold on you, shove you on the ice, and let the cameras film you jackasses running into each other and falling on your faces,” he said, straight-faced and deadpan. I stared at him, and after a second, he scoffed. “Unclench your asshole, Zeki. We have goggles that simulate various eye conditions. You get to pick a pair, then someone on our team—” He trailed off and frowned. “You play defense, yeah?”
“Mm.”
“So you’ll probably be with Tiago. Good guy, kind of a dick, but he won’t make fun of you. He’ll guide you around the rink and show you how he plays with his limited vision?—”
“Limited?”
Tucker’s mouth twitched. “You thought they all couldn’t see anything?”
“I…thought that’s what blind meant,” I confessed.
He groaned. “Yeah, you fucking need this little circus event. Show up, keep an open mind, try not to let any more ableist garbage fall out of your mouth, and you might actually have a good time.”
I took a step back. “Okay, but…theycansee?”
He stared at me, then said, “Google is free, bud. Try it.” And with that, he turned toward his computer, and I wasn’t so thick I didn’t realize a dismissal when I saw one.
I didn’t bother saying goodbye as I let myself out, shuffling into the hallway, where I almost collided immediately with a familiar body.
